Tipping the scales: Journalists’ lawyers face retaliation around the globe
The smears began the day Christian Ulate began representing jailed Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora: tweets accusing the lawyer of being a leftist or questioning his legal credentials. He began to fear he was being surveilled. Ulate had taken over the case in August 2022 from two other lawyers, Romeo Montoya García and Mario Castañeda,…
Journalists face growing hostility as Ethiopia’s civil war persists
Ethiopia’s 21-month-old civil war is accelerating the deterioration of press freedom in the Horn of Africa nation. The conflict between the federal government and the rebel forces led by the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) has prompted a media crackdown that extinguished the glimmer of hope sparked by the initial reforms of Prime Minister Abiy…
Ethiopian authorities re-arrest journalist Yayesew Shimelis 1 week after release on bail
Nairobi, June 29, 2022 – In response to news reports that Ethiopian security personnel arrested journalist Yayesew Shimelis on Tuesday, June 28, and are holding him at an undisclosed location, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for his immediate release: “Yayesew Shimelis’ detention is deeply concerning, given Ethiopian authorities’ history of…
Journalists Yayesew Shimelis and Temesgen Desalegn detained in Ethiopia
Nairobi, May 28, 2022– The Committee to Protect Journalists on Saturday called for the unconditional release of Ethiopian journalists Temesgen Desalegn and Yayesew Shimelis, and condemned authorities’ continued use of arrests to target members of the press. At around 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 26, police officers detained Temesgen Desalegn, chief editor of privately owned Feteh magazine,…
Ethiopian authorities arrest at least 15 employees of 2 independent media outlets
New York, July 2, 2021 – Ethiopian authorities should immediately release all recently arrested journalists and media workers, and ensure that authorities cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 1 p.m. on June 30, police raided the office of the independent broadcaster Awlo Media Center in Addis…
